


Deception

by SouthForWinter



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Most likely going to be Evil Charming eventually, Turning season 3 upside down and shaking it, started this in the gap between seasons 2 and 3 and am finally getting back to working on it, this one's different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6620449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthForWinter/pseuds/SouthForWinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While searching Neverland for Henry, the group quickly realizes that there's an enemy in their ranks. It seems that those originally thought to be helping in their search are actually looking for ways to divide them. Meanwhile, back in our world, the search for Storybrooke has begun and it's a race to see who will find it first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This one is suuuper different from my other fics. I felt like doing a weird one, and this is what happened. I only have the first eight chapters written, but I'm still working on it.

Emma knocked Hook's offered hand away and pulled herself up off the deck of the ship. "Why does going through a portal always have to be such a violent experience?" she asked no one in particular, brushing a hand through her hair in annoyance.

Regina rolled her eyes while Gold answered her question. "Well, you didn't think it was going to be easy now, did you, dearie? We're moving through different worlds – ripping holes through space. It's not exactly a walk in the park."

Emma thought about making a smart-ass comment about that being a poor comparison since he walked with a cane, but decided it was best to keep it in. He was helping them after all – something she was still having a hard time believing. It had been a very quick change of heart.

When she caught sight of where they were, however, she pushed all thoughts of Gold aside. Passing where her father was helping Snow to her feet, Emma went straight to the side of the ship. "This is Neverland?"

"Not very pretty, is it?" Hook asked, moving to her side.

It was a dark world. The water below moved turbulently and if she didn't know better, Emma would think it was threatening them with what waited below; whatever that may be. She shivered involuntarily. The land off in the distance didn't look much better. It was dark and dancing with shadows, but Emma couldn't find a source of light that would be causing them.

As if knowing what she were thinking, Hook spoke again. "It's a form of punishment here in Neverland. If you don't follow the rules laid down by the Shadow, or if you do something he doesn't like, he separates you from your own shadow."

Regina stepped forward then. "It's a very unpleasant practice. One's shadow is rather like a piece of your soul, and being ripped from it is an extremely painful process. No one is the same after it has been done."

Gold raised his eyebrow at her and Hook looked slightly surprised, but Emma wasn't paying attention to them.

"Jesus, Regina! Henry's out there."

Snow stepped forward hesitantly. "I'm sure he'll be alright, Emma. They wouldn't have brought him here unless they had a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"Not right away, at least," David said.

"David!" Snow snapped, looking at him incredulously.

Regina gave him a sharp look and Emma's mouth opened like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. She couldn't believe he'd say something like that.

"I just mean," he amended quickly, "we should hurry. They wouldn't hurt him right after bringing him here, so we still have some time to get to him before anything happens."

"Yeah," Emma muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets. She made eye contact with Snow who tried to give her a reassuring nod, but Emma could tell she was just as unconvinced as she was.

Regina cleared her throat. "He's right. The sooner we find him, the better. We're wasting time even talking about it, though we can't do much of anything until we arrive." She looked pointedly at Hook who moved off, returning to steer the ship.

"Can we get out and push?" Emma mumbled in frustration. At this point, she felt like she could swim to land faster than they were moving. She looked to Regina, the one other person on board that should be just as terrified as she was, but Regina was unnaturally calm.

Now even more unsettled then she'd been before, Emma shifted uneasily on her feet. She'd always been a person of action, and not being able to do anything was killing her. The fact that Regina, the woman who'd always played the part of overprotective mother, was now standing calmly in the face of Henry's kidnapping was putting her on edge. "I'm going below deck," Emma said suddenly, turning on her heel. "Tell me when we're getting close."

Looking up at David, Snow gave him a pained look. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Expecting another argument about not wanting to push their daughter, Snow was surprised when David only nodded. She almost stumbled looking over her shoulder at him as she walked away; he wasn't even looking back. She quickly turned back around and frowned down at the ground in thought as she hurried after Emma.

Gold glanced at Hook and scoffed irritably. "I think I'll go below as well. Wouldn't want to upset the delicate balance, would we?"

David and Regina were alone now, and David turned away from Regina, heading to front of the ship. With their backs turned to Hook, Regina fell into step next to him, keeping only a short distance between them.

"What was that?" she hissed.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You know very well what I mean! That comment back there almost gave you away. You're supposed to be concerned for Henry's safety."

" _Me_? What about _you_? You're the one who's supposed to be his mother, for god's sake. Instead you're spouting off knowledge about the Shadow."

"Because it's something I would know."

"You don't know that."

They stopped when they reached the bow of the ship and Regina turned to face David. "We're both just going to have to be more careful from now on." She tilted her head almost imperceptibly at Hook, who David now noticed was watching them with interest. There was no way the pirate captain could hear what they were saying from that distance, but he could certainly notice the oddity of Prince Charming and the Evil Queen having a private conversation.

"Agreed."

"Good. We shouldn't talk again until we're ashore and truly alone." With that she stormed off, looking offended, and after a second, David realized she was putting on an act. For his part, he glared after her with a mixture of hatred and disgust. It wasn't too far-reaching at the moment; she'd never made things easy for him and the current situation was giving her a big head.

So far, this mission was proving to be a challenge and he knew it was only going to get worse.

* * *

It was bright; unnaturally so. That was the first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything felt sore, so she didn't move at first. She was lying on some sort of bed attached to a wall, though it wasn't very comfortable. The wall next to her was smooth, not like stone, more like some kind of plastic. She furrowed her brow in confusion. The ceiling above her was almost all lights and she squeezed her eyes shut again at their harshness and turned her head to the side.

"Regina?"

Her eyes snapped open once again and she sat up quickly, grimacing at the pain that shot through her body at the movement.

"David?"

The fourth wall of what she now recognized to be some state of the art cell was made of clear hard plastic and she could see directly across a hall was an exact copy of the same cell, containing Prince Charming.

She put her hands up and gripped her head at the throbbing that had settled in.

"The pain will go away in a few minutes," David told her. "I think it's an after-effect of the drugs they used to knock us out."

Regina noticed now that both of their clothing had been replaced by white jumpsuits and she stood, pulling at the fabric before walking up to the clear wall and peering as far down the hallway both directions as her containment would allow.

"It looks like it's just more cells," David told her, "but as far as I can tell, they're all empty. We're the only ones here."

Regina huffed out an irritated breath. "I can see that, thank you." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him across the hall. "Where are we?" she demanded.

David smiled in dark amusement. "You think I know? I only woke up a few minutes ago myself."

The sound of a door opening somewhere off in the distance had him up on his feet, moving to stand at the wall just across from Regina, only separated by the four feet of hallway between the cells.

Footsteps echoed through the eerily sterile environment and David thought he saw a flash of fear in Regina's eyes before her cold mask slipped back into place. He couldn't blame her; he was terrified.

"You're awake!" A man said, finally stepping into view of both of them. He was short with a full head of thick light brown hair, green eyes, and a smile that could make anyone nervous. "It's about time. We were worried we may have given you too large a dose; wouldn't want to kill you so early on. It'd be a shame not to learn as much about you as we can first."

Regina pulled her head back a bit, the only detectable change in her demeanor, but James slammed his fist against the clear wall. There was a light thud, but the wall didn't even vibrate.

"Why are we here?! What do you want with us?"

"We just want information. Information only your kind can provide us."

"Our _kind_?" David spat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know. Magical folk. People not of this world." He smiled at them both in turn. "I think this will prove to be a very interesting study."

Regina raised her eyes to meet the stranger's, and her cold gaze met his equally indifferent one. "Who are you?"

"Who we are is not important. Not to you, at least. All you need to know is that we're in control here. It would be best for you if you were to cooperate. You're not in Storybrooke anymore." He nodded at both of them before turning to leave. "I'll be back later."

"If we're not in Storybrooke, then where are we?" David called after him.

"Very, very far away and nowhere you've ever been before," was the man's amused answer. Faint sounds of laughter echoed back to them before they heard the door close behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Snow closed the door softly behind her. "We're going to find him, Emma. I promise."

Emma was sitting on the floor with her back resting against the wall behind her, her head tilted back and eyes closed. When she heard her mother's voice, she lifted it and looked at her. "I just don't understand why things like this keep happening. Does it ever get any easier? I mean, I was living my life in Boston, and then suddenly the son I gave up for adoption ten years earlier is at my door, dragging me into his life, telling me about fairytales. I broke the curse, I did what I was supposed to do, and then we ended up in the Enchanted Forest, and we barely managed to make it back home. We finally started living like families are supposed to and then Storybrooke was threatened and we all thought we were going to die. It's not fair that we stopped it just in time to have them take him from us."

Snow nodded, afraid to say anything in case it kept Emma from continuing. Her daughter was not one to share her feelings easily, but it seemed that the dam had finally broken on this subject, and she knew that Emma needed to get it off her chest. It was a heavy weight to be carrying, and they had a rough road ahead of them.

"I can't believe he's not here," Emma practically whispered. "And that almost a year ago, I didn't even know him. Now I can't imagine my life without him."

Swallowing back her own tears, Snow lowered herself to the ground next to her daughter. She knew what that felt like; while it seemed that no time had passed for her or David, Emma had grown up and they'd missed her entire childhood. But they could be here for her now.

"You don't have to imagine that, Emma. We're going to get off this ship soon, and Greg and Tamara won't know what hit them. They're not expecting anyone to have followed them, so we have the advantage."

"It's not Greg and Tamara I'm worried about anymore," Emma said quietly. When she looked at her mother, there were traces of panic she couldn't quite hide showing clearly in her eyes. "What kind of person do you have to be for Mr. Gold to be afraid of you?"

Snow wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn't think of anything. Emma was right; what they were up against was much greater than Greg and Tamara now. They would need their whole family, and as terrible as Regina could be, at least she was on their side this time, and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to save her son. Though both Regina and David had been acting oddly, she knew sometimes traveling by ship did strange things to people. As Snow leaned her head back against the wall along with her daughter, she hoped that whatever it was would be gone when they stepped foot on land.

* * *

When Regina opened her eyes again, it was dark. Not so dark that she couldn't see anything, but the amount of light had been drastically reduced. It was now coming from a small strip lining the bottom of the three solid walls of her cell, and instead of being white as it had been before, it was now tinted blue. She guessed that's how they indicated whether it was night or day. At least they were afforded that courtesy in this prison.

It had been more than a day since they were brought here, she was almost sure of it. Not long after the first man had left, a woman took his place, only instead of wanting to talk, she'd wanted to take them one at a time to a room where they were fingerprinted, pictures were taken and notes about height, weight and various other things were recorded.

She'd fallen asleep before they'd brought David back. Lingering drugs in her system wore her out more quickly and made her easily dizzy. She was still absorbing what had happened; her memory was foggy and she couldn't remember how in the world they'd managed to get themselves in this position in the first place.

One thing was clear; they were not guests here, they were prisoners. She had a sickening feeling that the first man hadn't just been trying to scare them when he said they'd make sure to squeeze out all the information they could before killing them. She had no doubt that they'd kill her, and she wondered just how long she could hold out. She'd die before she'd tell them anything they wanted to know about her world or Storybrooke, but that was the problem. How long would it take them to realize that she wasn't going to give them anything?

And what about Henry? She felt sick to her stomach when she thought about what would happen to him if these people found Storybrooke. At least she could comfort herself with the knowledge that he'd be protected by Emma, though the knowledge that that woman would get to raise him while she'd never see him again made her feel even more nauseous.

It had been a long time since Regina had experienced the kind of panic attack she could feel coming on now. When she was younger, she'd experienced them when her mother was being particularly controlling. Right after one of Cora's 'lessons', she would run back to the house and lock herself in her room, fighting for air through her tears and the crushing weight of living in that house with her mother, magic and very little hope of ever escaping. In fact, she didn't think she'd had an attack since her mother had disappeared through the mirror; not even when she'd returned to Storybrooke. At that thought, the growing feelings of panic increased, and she sat up, struggling for breath.

Why now, she wondered. She'd been through so many horrible things since then, and not once had she broken the way she was doing now. It was the feeling of being trapped again, and her mind brushed against those most recent memories of being tortured; strapped to the cold table while the bolts of painful electricity ripped through her body. A strangled cry escaped her at the thought.

"Regina, are you okay?"

David hadn't been able to fall asleep. He'd heard Regina's breathing become labored and erratic, and when he heard her cry out, he pulled himself from the bed and walked up to the window where he could now make out Regina's form, sitting up in her own bed, bent forward slightly at the waist.

She looked up at him, surprised by the sudden sound of another voice. She'd almost forgotten she wasn't alone and it was a relief. As undesirable a companion as he was, she wasn't alone in this hell.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he met her gaze, he was surprised by the panic he saw in her eyes. Regina had never been one to scare easily, try as one might. They'd brought armies and an entire kingdom against her and the woman had barely batted an eyelash. Now here she was in a small cell, apparently far away from home, and she was completely losing her cool not even twenty four hours after their capture. He didn't miss the shiny streaks that glinted underneath her eyes when she tilted her head up; she'd started to cry. In that moment, he almost wished he could go to her and comfort her. Despite having been enemies for the last few decades, he knew what she'd been through in just the last week alone, and now they were trapped here. Together.

Since he couldn't leave his own cell, he attempted to convey all of that comfort through his expression instead. Their eyes locked and Regina found herself regaining control. He seemed calm as he stood in front of the glass, and his blue eyes only showed momentary surprise before he relaxed back into simply looking at her. It was exactly what she needed; her breathing slowed and she finally managed to draw in air without gasping.

After it seemed that she'd calmed completely, David repeated his question. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she snapped, embarrassed that she'd lost control like that in his presence. But then she remembered that without that same presence, she'd most likely be in the throes of a full-blown panic attack right now. "Thank you," she managed quietly. It was sincere, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Goodnight." He padded silently back to his bed.

"Goodnight."


	3. Chapter 3

David sighed heavily as he saw Regina wave her hand for about the fifth time since they'd woken up that morning. "You know that's not going to make a difference," he told her. "There's no magic outside of Storybrooke."

"You never know," she snapped at him. "It doesn't hurt to try. Just because they told us we're not in Storybrooke doesn't mean it's true. You should know better than anyone that people rarely tell the truth."

"Have you looked around recently?" David asked her, growing even more agitated. "Does this look like anything in Storybrooke to you? I may have been in a coma for twenty-eight years, but even I know that this looks like something out of a science fiction movie."

She rested her hand back at her side. "So what are you going to do? Just sit there and do nothing?"

"No, I'm going to wait until I know exactly what is going on, and then I'm going to figure out a way out of this situation."

"Good luck with that," she scoffed. She knew these people weren't going to give them anything to go on, and even if the security they'd seen yesterday was the only security in the building, they had very little chance of escaping without outside help.

"You know, we wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you," he said harshly.

"Oh? And how do you figure that?"

"We wouldn't even be in this world if you hadn't cast your curse."

"Back to the curse again, are we? When are you people going to get over that?"

"Maybe when you stop trying to kill everyone!"

"Oh, that's rich! Especially right after I nearly died saving everyone!"

"From a device that _you_ brought! One that you were intending on using eventually yourself."

She sat back heavily, pressing her weight into the wall behind her. He wasn't wrong, but she hated that he'd used that against her. In the end, she really _had_ wanted to save everyone – not just for Henry, but for herself, as well. She hadn't wanted to die as the Evil Queen she'd become. Maybe a last-minute act of redemption could still save her. But it hadn't mattered, because she hadn't died, and now it seemed that her act of selflessness hadn't changed anything, anyway.

They both crossed their arms and David stared at her until she looked away. She was tired of seeing the judgment in his eyes.

* * *

Abby shivered and leaned back in her chair, holding her mug of coffee close as she kept her eyes on the screens in front of her.

"Cold?"

She looked over at Reid who was sitting in the chair next to her. "Yeah. I can't get used to it up here. I grew up in Southern California." She took a sip of the warm liquid and smiled lightly at the feeling. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"Not far from here, actually. Of course, I didn't know this place existed until I started working here. It was nice not to have to move around. I like being close to home."

"You have a family, right?"

"Wife and two kids," Reid smiled. "And now, I even get to see them on occasion."

Abby chuckled. She knew the hours here were pretty grueling, but for the most part, it was an easy job. They were both quiet again, attention fully back on the screens in front of them.

"They weren't like I thought they'd be," Abby said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"They just seem so…human."

"Well, they aren't."

"But aren't they? I mean…kind of. They're human, they're just from another world." She slapped at Reid when he started to laugh at her. "Shut up! You know what I mean. They're exactly the same as you and I in every way except that they have magic where they're from."

"Careful. You know they warned us not to think that way. That's exactly why they're so dangerous; they look just like us, but they have the ability to change the world as we know it. They could destroy everything we love."

Abby shook her head. "It just doesn't seem like that's their intention. Hey, wait a minute; they're talking again." She leaned forward in her chair to adjust the volume on the screens, turning it up so they could clearly hear the conversation taking place in the cell block. At least, what had started out as a conversation.

"Great! They're arguing again," Reid complained. They listened as the pair bickered back and forth about their current situation. He sat back in his chair. "And they're not giving us anything."

"Well, we know Regina is the one that brought everyone here."

"Yeah, but we knew that before. We need new information. The boss is going to be mad if we don't bring him anything to help us find Storybrooke. This is so stupid!" he cried in frustration, slamming a fist on the console and making Abby jump. "We had them, but then it disappeared! They never should have sent Greg; they should have figured out that he was too focused on revenge to care about helping our cause."

"Yeah, but he had Tamara with him," Abby tried.

"Didn't help much, did it? We were supposed to be taking people who could help us figure out how magic worked so we could eliminate it for good, but instead, we're stuck trying to figure out how to get back into Storybrooke all over again. It's put us way behind schedule."

Abby was quiet for a moment. "I'm sure they'll say something soon. We'll figure out how to get back there."

"Not if they keep this up," Reid scoffed. "It figures they'd pick the two people who hated each other the most. They're never going to have a civil conversation!"

"I wouldn't say that." Both Abby and Reid jumped at the voice coming from behind them; neither of them had heard him enter the room.

"Dr. Valery!" Reid exclaimed as both he and Abby stumbled to their feet. "Sir. We didn't hear you come in."

Dr. Valery gave them both an appraising look. "Yes, I don't like to alert people to my presence. I like to hear what they say when they think no one is listening." He gave them a smile that looked more like a threat to the two guards.

Abby hid another shiver, though this one wasn't from the cold. She hadn't trusted Dr. Valery since the moment she'd met him; no one did, really. He was apparently very valuable to the operation, but she wished she never had to deal with him. Fortunately, the area she was posted in meant very little interaction with the man.

"So our two prisoners aren't cooperating, you say?" he asked.

"No, sir," Reid was quick to answer. "They're too busy arguing to ever talk about anything that matters."

"Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we?" Without further conversation, Dr. Valery strode out of the room, leaving the two guards to stare after him, wondering what he was going to do.

* * *

Regina and David were still giving each other the silent treatment; David while he continued to stare angrily at her and Regina while she continued to avoid his gaze. They both straightened and watched in apprehensive curiosity as they heard footsteps and the short man from the first day came into view.

He looked at both of them in turn. "You're not making this very easy," he told them, but rather than sounding annoyed, he sounded amused; he was enjoying this. He waved a finger at Regina, beckoning her to walk toward him. When she did, her door slid open and she planted her feet, not moving any closer.

"Now, now," he scolded, still smiling, "you don't want to offend me. Come along, Regina. You're going to help me get what I want." She stared at him. "Don't make me wait," he warned in a dangerous tone when she still didn't move.

Regina finally stepped out of her cell. From the hallway, she could see the guard standing behind the short man. With a simple hand motion from the man, the guard moved forward and unceremoniously slapped handcuffs on her, attaching a chain that he used to pull her along behind him. As the trio moved toward the door, Regina met David's startled gaze, and she couldn't fully hide the fear in her own.

She watched him until she couldn't see him anymore, nearly stumbling with the effort of looking over her shoulder.

"Keep up!" the guard snapped, not bothering to look behind him as he yanked the chain.

Regina tripped, and hurried to fall into step behind the guard before he could complain again.

She struggled to put her stoic mask back into place; she wouldn't let these strangers see that she was afraid of them. But it wasn't easy. One question played over and over in her mind: what were they going to do to her?


	4. Chapter 4

"We must be here," Snow said, suddenly sitting up.

"How do you know?" Emma asked, watching her in confusion.

"Because we've stopped moving."

Emma had been so buried in thought that she hadn't noticed that they'd indeed stopped moving. She braced herself against the wall as she stood, then reached a hand to Snow to pull her to her feet as well.

"Finally," Emma sighed, "we can do something. I hate being trapped."

Snow gave her daughter's shoulder a pat as she walked past, then followed her out of the small cabin and up onto the deck. They watched as Hook worked to secure the ship before they left it for land.

Regina and David made their way over from their different sections of the ship, and David looked at Emma. "Feeling better?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Do I feel _better_?"

Snow quickly stepped into David's side, resting a hand on his chest. "I think what he means to say, is that he's been concerned, and he's glad that we're finally here so that we can start looking for Henry. Right, David?" She looked up into his eyes.

He smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry it came out the way it did; I guess I'm just upset about Henry."

Regina caught the odd look that Snow and Emma shared when David wasn't looking, and narrowed her eyes.

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Gold appeared from below and moved toward them, his cane hitting the deck with a dull thump every time he took a step. "I see we've arrived."

Hook finished just as Gold spoke and joined them. "How very astute of you, crocodile."

Gold sneered at him and opened his mouth to retort but Emma stepped between them. "Stop! We don't have time for this!" She gestured to the land nearby. "Henry's out there somewhere waiting for us to find him, and that will never happen if we don't stop this petty bickering. We're here for Henry – that's it. So," she turned to Gold. "You seem to know something about the person who wants Henry. What do you think we should do?"

Gold looked around at everyone. "We need to make our way up there," he said, gesturing to a small mountain range. The way the trees and cliff faces came together, it resembled an eerie face. "Dead Man's Ridge. It's where the Shadow resides, and he's the one looking for Henry."

"I don't remember a Dead Man's Ridge in Peter Pan," Emma said, looking apprehensively at the mountain.

"Well, not everything is like it is in the stories, Dearie," he told her. "I thought you'd know that by now. And unlike the clever little names they come up with in your world, Dead Man's Ridge is named for what it truly is. Very few people come back once they go up – unless they work for Peter Pan, that is. We should stick together – these lands are a dangerous place and it would be better to face anything we might come across as a group."

"I disagree," Regina said. "For all we know, they haven't had a chance to take Henry there yet and he's still somewhere in the forest. If we split into two groups, we can cover more ground more quickly. Our first priority is finding Henry."

Only Snow caught the quick look that passed between her and David.

"Alright," Emma said. "I'm gonna have to go with Regina on this one. We need to find Henry before they get him to the Shadow, if it's at all possible. I'll go with Regina and Hook – since you know this place so well," she told the pirate captain. "And you guys can go with Gold," she said to her parents. "Because it seems like he might know his way around."

"Emma," Snow said quietly. She glanced between David and Regina, wondering if this wasn't exactly what Regina had wanted when she suggested they split up. But there was nothing she could say now under the scrutiny of the woman herself. "Let's get a move on," she said, changing directions.

It only took a few minutes for them to row to land and once they were out of the small raft, Snow stopped Emma from running full-steam-ahead into the forest. "We should have a plan to meet up," Snow told her. "Tonight, when it starts to grow dark. I really think it's a bad idea for us to stay split up when the sun goes down."

"Agreed," Emma nodded. "I just hope it doesn't take that long to find Henry."

"So do I," Snow said softly. "So how about you guys take the left, and we'll take right, and we meet in the middle tonight?"

"How will we find each other?" Emma asked.

"Easy," Snow smiled. "Just tell the birds, and they'll find me."

Emma shook her head. "Yeah, that's still weird. Okay…I guess we're ready, then." She motioned for Hook to lead the way.

When most of the group was ahead, Snow fell into step beside Emma. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I don't know," Emma told her honestly. "But at least this way, we're keeping them apart. That's best, isn't it?"

Snow shrugged, watching her husband. "I just don't understand what's going on with him. You didn't see that look between them earlier, Emma. It's like they're in on some big secret together."

"Well, we'll just have to keep our eye on them."

Snow nodded and squeezed Emma's arm. "Let's go find Henry."

* * *

"Thank you, Sean. You may leave us now."

Regina struggled against her new restraints; she was now strapped to a chair in a mostly empty room. The guard, Sean, nodded and she watched as he left the room before turning her attention back to the short man.

"Thank you for joining me, Regina." He smiled sickeningly.

"I didn't have a choice," she said coldly, maintaining her calm.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he said, ignoring her comment. "I'm Dr. Valery." As he spoke, he walked to a table nearby, picking up a few items that she couldn't see from her angle.

"Isn't that a woman's name?" Regina sneered. She was terrified, and the best way she knew to deal with her fear was to channel it into rage, as she'd always done. Never mind that it usually got her into a fair amount of trouble.

Rather than growing angry as she'd hoped, he smiled, but didn't look away from what he was doing. "You know, that's definitely not the first time I've heard that. I was teased often because of my height, my name…but there's something wonderful about having the other kids make fun of you when you're growing up; you become stronger because of it. I had to overcome the bullying and show everyone that I was so much more than just a name. And I did." He turned and Regina swallowed heavily when she caught a glimpse of what he was holding; a small, handheld taser. But she knew now that size made very little difference. Any kind of electrical current could cause immeasurable pain. Her eyes widened, and Valery didn't miss the reaction.

"I see you know what this is." He patted the device against his hand. "I'm glad. It's going to make this so much easier."

"I'm not going to tell you anything," she said viciously.

He shook his head in amusement. "Oh, my dear Regina, you don't understand. I don't want you to tell me anything yet. That's not why I brought you here today."

Regina looked thoroughly confused. "It isn't?"

"No, no. You only just arrived. There's no reason to be in so much of a rush. I think it would be nice to have a little time to get to know one another first, don't you?"

"I'd rather you just kill me." She didn't mean the words, of course, but she couldn't help herself. Appearing weak was the last thing she'd ever let happen, especially in front of this horrible man. They'd only been here for a day, and she could already tell that he was the one they were going to have to watch out for. He was far more dangerous than any of the others they'd met. He had a malicious air about him and, even more chilling, he took pleasure in causing them pain.

There were a lot of things that people of the Enchanted Forest could say about the Evil Queen, but of all the rumors, there was one that had never been true; Regina took no delight in doing the terrible things that she did. For her, it was all about the control. Fear kept them in line, and when they were afraid of her, she didn't have to worry about them turning against her.

This man was different. The pain is what he lived for, she could tell. She'd dealt with people like him before in her days as queen, and even then she hadn't enjoyed it. Now she was at the mercy of this man and she hated it. Which was why, right now, Regina wondered what this man could possibly want. If he hadn't brought her here to glean information about Storybrooke, why was he holding tools that could be used for torture? He seemed cruel, but even he wouldn't be so cruel as to torture her without reason.

Would he?

"You know, peoples' capacity for sympathy can really be quite astounding," Dr. Valery said, walking around her slowly. "Even between people with a great dislike for one another."

Regina scoffed at him. "Don't try to tell me you feel any kind of sympathy. You're the one who brought me here."

Ignoring her, he continued, "Relationships and trust can be built on shared experiences of pain or suffering. A good many friendships have started that way."

"I hope you're not thinking that _we_ will have any sort of friendship, because I can assure you it will never happen." Regina subtly pulled against her restraints, but it was no use; she was stuck here for the duration of this man's sick games, whatever it was he had in mind.

"It's quite interesting, actually. I've had the opportunity to see it in action on more than one occasion. The different types of people it has managed to bring together – it's _fascinating_. Some of them never would have associated otherwise, so you could say the work I do helps bring people together." He stopped walking and looked at her, smiling again. "Though it never ends well, so I suppose that takes all the goodness out of it." He moved so that he was standing directly in front of her. "No, I have no delusions about _our_ relationship, I can promise you that. I have no desire to have any kind of dealings with my subjects other than professional, as you'll soon come to see. Shall we begin, then?" he asked sweetly.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll take your silence as a yes."

Without any further warning, he jabbed the taser into her side and pulled the trigger.

Unlike before with Greg, Regina immediately reacted to the pain. Crying out, she jerked away from the source as much as the restraints would allow, which wasn't much.

Valery laughed. "Yes, I thought you might react this way. You know the pain of electricity after your…" he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "recent experiences."

Hatred bubbled inside her as she shrunk in fear when he waved the taser in front of her face. After everything that had happened recently with Greg, she didn't think she could take anymore, and as much as she wanted to hide her fear from this man, she couldn't find the strength under these circumstances.

Even her thoughts of hatred disappeared at the next jolt of electricity was delivered to her other side. It seemed worse this time, and Regina found herself slipping back into the memories of being trapped back in Storybrooke; strapped down to the table and electrocuted right up to the point of death.

Valery straightened and set the taser back on the table, watching as Regina squirmed and cried even after there was no more pain. "You see, I know a thing or two about one's mental state after an experience such as yours. You just have to know which buttons to push and the post-traumatic stress does the rest." He moved to a panel on the wall and keyed in a code. An instant later, Sean reappeared, holding the handcuffs.

"You won't need those," Valery told him. "I doubt she even knows where she is at this point."

And he was right; Regina was a confused, crying mess. The only indication she gave that she was aware of anything at all was jumping at Sean's touch when he moved to release her from the restraints and pull her to her feet. She didn't even look at him before she was back to curling in on herself, whimpering and mumbling unintelligibly as he pulled her from the room.

It had taken Greg hours to break Regina Mills.

Valery had done it in less than ten minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

David sat up quickly at the sound of a pair of footsteps. He knew immediately that something was up, because the second sound of footsteps more closely resembled someone being pulled along. It would have made sense if they were leaving the cell, but that wasn't the case. Regina should be happy to return and be free of that disgusting man that had visited them twice now.

The worry turned to fear as they finally came into view, and he got his first glimpse of a broken Regina. She looked nothing like she had when she'd been taken away. Yes, she'd looked fearful, but she still had fire in her eyes. They were now completely full of fear, jumping around the room as if looking for something that would attack her at any second. She was crying, and when the guard reached to uncuff her, she jumped and cried out as if she'd been electrocuted.

Oh, god.

David had no idea what exactly had happened, but he could now make out the name Owen in the mumblings of a terrified Regina, and it didn't take much for him to hazard a guess at the approach used to bring her to this breaking point.

"Hey!" he yelled, when the guard roughly shoved Regina back into her cell and secured the door. He found that he'd moved to the wall and was now leaning with his fists braced against it in anger.

In response, the guard only looked at him and smirked. He gave a little wave and David slammed his palms against the wall, furious that he could treat an obviously suffering woman with such disregard and be amused about it.

He heard the door shut, indicating the guard was finally gone, and he moved sideways against the wall, not breaking hand contact, until he was standing directly across from where Regina was piled on the floor in a heap. "Regina?" he called out softly, trying not to scare her. "Regina, can you hear me?"

He could only hear her crying in response.

* * *

Abby watched as Sean, a guard she'd always hated working with, shoved a barely aware Regina back into her cell. She had time to give Reid a quick glance before the door opened and Dr. Valery swept in.

Swallowing back his disgust, it was Reid who asked the question; "What did you do to her?" He managed to sound merely curious, as opposed to horrified, which is what he was currently feeling. Judging by the look that Abby had given him just before the doctor had walked in, she felt the same.

"I reminded her of a recent experience," he said simply.

"But why?" Abby asked. "What was the point? You weren't gone long enough to ask her any questions. Why torture her if you weren't planning on getting anything from her?"

"Oh, it wasn't for nothing, trust me." Valery smiled. "I know that these cells were designed very specifically for many different circumstances, and I'd like to utilize that now."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked.

"I want you to seal off the hallway and open up the doors to their cells."

Reid and Abby both turned to him in shock. No one had ever opened the doors between prisoners' cells before. Then again, they hadn't had two prisoners at once before; at least, not since either Reid or Abby had started working there.

"Are you both hard of hearing?" Valery snapped. "Open the doors."

Reid turned around and glanced at the control board. He'd been shown complete operations during his training, but he'd never actually used this function and it had been a while since his training. Finally, he found the right sequence, and managed to perform the task.

"Good," Valery said. "I have things I need to attend to, but I expect a full update on what's said in there." He pointed at the screens.

"Yes, sir," Reid nodded.

Valery disappeared again and Abby let out the breath she'd been holding. "He tortured her so that he could get David's sympathy," she said quietly, disgusted at the realization. "He wants to use her pain to get them to start talking."

"At least she has someone to comfort her," Reid tried.

Abby looked at the small containers of food that she and Reid had started in on before Valery had returned, and pushed hers away. "I'm not hungry anymore."

* * *

David didn't leave his place at the wall when he saw a similar one sliding into place in the hallway at the edges of his cell; they were being completely sealed off. He wondered why they thought they needed the extra security. It wasn't like he and Regina would be able to get out of their cells anyway.

But then the door slid open.

David pushed himself off the wall, but didn't move toward the now open door. Regina's had opened as well, and he couldn't quite bring himself to believe it.

After a moment of just staring, David carefully moved forward, afraid that if he moved too quickly, they'd close the doors again. He made it into the hallway, however, and from there, he hurried into Regina's cell, not wanting anyone to change their minds before he could make it to her.

She was still lying on the floor, crying, and he wondered how to approach her without scaring her. Finally realizing that it probably wasn't possible, he moved in slowly and as gently as he could, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Regina."

She jumped, and she raised her head to look at him, but he could tell that her eyes were looking past him, seeing something else.

"Regina," he tried again. He lowered himself to sit on the floor in front of her and when she didn't further acknowledge his presence, he lowered himself to lie next to her on the ground. "Regina, it's me. It's David. Do you know who I am?"

She looked at him briefly, but then squeezed her eyes shut. "David?" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me."

"Why?"

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean? Regina, do you know where you are?"

"Greg…" she started with a shaky voice, but David shook his head and reached out to touch her wrist before she could continue.

"No, Regina. Greg's not here."

She jumped at the contact and cringed, but when her eyes opened again, she seemed to focus on him, unlike before. "He's not?"

David noticed the marks circling her small wrist after her pained look and he pulled it gently between them so that he could smooth his thumbs over the nearly broken skin, trying to massage the pain away. The guard had made the cuffs far too tight. "No. Greg's gone. You and I were captured, though. We're in some kind of prison. Remember?"

Slowly, Regina began to nod. She watched David's fingers as he soothed the pain in her wrist, mesmerized by the small movements. The memories of the last day finally returned to her, and she closed her eyes again. She didn't want to remember any of it. She was angry that Dr. Valery had been able to break her so easily, and she was humiliated that she'd shown how weak she could be. When she opened them, she expected to see David's eyes full of pity, and she readied herself to snap at him that she didn't need it. But instead, she found he was focused entirely on her wrist, and instead of pity, he was frowning.

"Why would they do this?" he asked.

"What?"

"Torture you?" he explained, still not looking at her.

"I imagine they're hoping that I'll slip up and tell them something that would help them to get to the people in Storybrooke."

"But you weren't gone very long. Did he ask you anything?"

"I think it's more long-term than that," she told him. "He said he wanted to get to know me first." Her voice wavered on the words, and David paused his movements and finally looked up.

Again, there was no pity, only concern, and Regina suddenly realized the position they were in. David was still lying next to her on the floor of her cell, her hand grasped carefully in his, and with him looking at her that way, she felt self-conscious. This was not the mask of indifference she normally wore in front of him.

She sat up quickly, pulling her hand from his grasp, but the movement made her dizzy and she had to brace herself to keep from falling over again.

"Careful," David said, pushing himself to his feet. He wrapped his arms gently under hers and helped her to her feet. When she didn't fight him off, he knew that she was still suffering the after-effects of whatever had happened. He guided her back to her bed and set her down. "You should rest," he told her. "We need to start thinking about how we can get out of here, and you won't be much help until you've had some sleep."

"I already slept!" she said angrily, but she could already feel the pull of unconsciousness. Despite her statement, she allowed David to help her lie down on her bed.

"We've dealt with a lot of stress," he said as her eyes started to close. "It's alright to be tired. When you wake up, we can talk about how we'll get back home."

Regina wanted to argue further, but she felt David lift her other injured wrist and begin the same soothing patterns he'd traced on the first. As she drifted to sleep, her mind finally processed the fact that David was somehow in her cell. Her thoughts became a tired mass of jumbled confusion as she tried to decipher how that was possible, and she decided it had to be a dream. She felt the pain floating away as David's gentle fingers rubbed her wrist, and her final thought before falling asleep was that in place of the nightmares that had recently plagued her, at least it was finally a pleasant one.


	6. Chapter 6

Regina slowly blinked her eyes open, still unused to the harsh lighting of the cell. She felt something on her hand and when she turned her head, she found herself face to face with a sleeping David. His hand was resting gently against hers, and she suddenly remembered what had happened before she'd fallen asleep. It hadn't been a dream. She felt humiliated, but also relieved. She sat up slowly and felt guilty when she saw how uncomfortable David looked. He was in a crouched position next to the bed, his head resting on it as if he'd fallen asleep unexpectedly. Which he probably had, she realized. He'd been massaging her wrist, trying to coax her into sleeping and must have fallen asleep himself.

Now she was torn. She didn't want him to wake up because she didn't want to face the reality of what had happened to her, but at the same time, she didn't' want him to suffer from the uncomfortable position any longer than he already had. Besides, he hadn't shown any pity before, so maybe he wouldn't be as judgmental as she'd always imagined he would be. She'd never allowed any higher expectations of the husband of Snow White.

Sighing, she let her guilt win out.

"David."

His brow creased lightly, but there was no other indication of him waking.

"David? David!"

He jumped up then, alert at the sound of her call.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

She almost smiled at how his first thought was that he needed to protect someone, but she swallowed the impulse with the nervous thought that she was now among those he wanted to protect. She knew he didn't mean it as such, but she felt as if his protection was a reaction to how pathetic she seemed after her recent experiences. He'd always been the first in line to see her executed back in their land, and even after the curse had broken in this one, he'd been among those wanting to see her dead. His sudden change of heart had no other explanation. As much as he might deny it, Regina had a sneaking suspicion that his sudden protectiveness stemmed from some sort of hero complex; see a damsel in distress and the need to save her kicks in. It was a Charming family trait that Emma had inherited and it made Regina feel sick to her stomach. A damsel in distress was a role she'd never wanted, but somehow one she always seemed to find herself playing, no matter how unwillingly; with her mother, with Daniel, with the King, with Rumpelstiltskin, with Greg, and now with David.

David glanced around him, finally realizing there was no immediate danger. "Wha-..where…" He continued looking around in confusion, trying to get his bearings.

Regina decided to go directly for a less dangerous set of questions – she hoped. "How are you in my cell?" She'd briefly wondered the same thing before she'd fallen asleep, but her mind had nearly been gone, so she hadn't been able to go any further than that.

Halting his study of his surroundings, David finally remembered what had occurred, and why he'd awoken next to Regina.

" _They_ opened the doors."

"They?"

"The people keeping us here. I don't know…They brought you back and then they closed off the hallway and opened the doors of our cells."

Regina stood abruptly and walked to the doorway of her cell. Glancing around curiously, she finally stepped outside and walked to one end of the now short hallway, inspecting the new wall carefully before walking to the other side and repeating her actions. "Why would they do this?" she wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I'm glad they did."

Regina looked up from her place at the wall and met his gaze, absorbing the heaviness of his statement. If he hadn't been there to pull her out of the delusional world she'd spiraled into, she didn't know what would have happened.

She shook her head, and turned back to the wall, looking past it to the outer doors. "Yes, well…the question remains; why would they keep us apart and then all of the sudden open the doors between our cells?"

"Maybe they decided they'd gone too far and thought you needed a friend?"

Regina raised an eyebrow at his use of the word friend, but rather than question it, she shook her head. "No. What he did was very deliberate. Besides – he wouldn't be the kind of person to take pity. He doesn't care about us beyond getting the information he wants…" Regina slowed toward the end of her sentence, trailing off in thought. Just as David was about to ask her what she was thinking, her focus snapped back to the present. "It must have been something else. Perhaps a guard taking pity? Or, for all we know, this is a regular practice for them. Maybe it's just another way for them to study us."

David creased his brow in thought, but Regina plowed forward.

"Oh, well. Whatever it is, we have our own things we need to do. We need to discuss our options. I, for one, am still having trouble piecing together what happened back at the mines. It's still foggy."

David nodded. "For me, too."

"Well, maybe we can compare our memories and start to reconstruct what happened and how we got here?" She tilted her head. "Maybe talking it through will help us remember."

"It couldn't hurt to try," he agreed.

She walked back toward him and he stepped aside when she reached the doorway so she could move past him and back to the bed. "Why don't you start?" she asked, sitting down.

David moved into the room as well, leaning against the wall across from her and crossing his arms against his chest. "Well…we'd all gone back to the mines so that we could try to throw the trigger through a portal."

Regina nodded. "But you didn't have the bean—"

"—because Hook had stolen it…Right."

"Which probably worked out for the best in the end; there was no way to know which world it would have ended up in. We had no way of knowing what effect it might have had on the place it landed."

David's face paled. "I didn't even think about that. I thought it was specifically designed for Storybrooke."

"I think it was."

"You think?! Weren't you the one who designed it?"

She shook her head. "Rumpelstiltskin gave it to me before I cast the curse."

"But you said—"

"I know what I said!" she snapped at him. "But you know…I have been known to lie from time to time when it benefits me."

"Yeah," he said, pulling his arms tighter against him to keep himself from retaliating. "I know. But what reason would you have to lie about that? What purpose would it serve? And why would Rumpelstiltskin allow you to have such a dangerous weapon? He'd know that you would use it without telling him. He'd die along with the rest of us."

She huffed out an irritated breath at his persistence. "Gold has his own plan, his own agenda. Trust me when I say that he wasn't concerned about the trigger. As for me, I had my reasons for lying. Reasons you don't need to know."

David narrowed his eyes at her. "How do I know if you're even telling the truth now?"

"Does it matter?!" she asked, flinging her arms up in exasperation. Gesturing around her, she continued, "Or do you not remember where we currently are? Now…can we please get back to the matter of how we _arrived_ here, or do you have a problem with that as well?"

He uncrossed his arms in order to brush a hand through his hair, trying to remain patient. Finally, he shook his head, sighing.

"Now that I have your permission…" she sneered.

"Just keep going, Regina," he nearly pleaded, pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off an impending headache. "Please?"

"Hook had stolen the bean," she picked up. "We thought we were all going to die." Her voice lost most of the hostility as she recalled the emotions of that moment. They'd come back to save her, risking all of their lives, and for a moment, she'd truly believed they were all about to die. The overwhelming anguish washed over her again as she felt the ghost of Henry clinging to her tightly in what they thought would be their last moments.

"But Emma realized that she might be able to help with her magic," David continued, and Regina was grateful to be pulled from the memories.

She couldn't believe it had worked. She remembered the feeling of the added power; the burst of energy. But beyond that, her mind was fighting her. She tried to reach past it, to remember what had happened directly after, but there was a heavy resistance.

"Obviously it worked," David tried. "We wouldn't be here if it hadn't."

Regina nodded. "But what…?"

As she tried desperately to recall the events that had followed, David pushed himself off the wall. As if in a daze, he moved toward her and sat down beside her. In deep thought, he raised his arm and grasped hers, physically going through the motions he was barely remembering from those last hazy minutes in Storybrooke.

Regina's eyes dropped to his hand as they had during that moment back in the mines, and she looked up at him. "You…you did this right before…" She stood up suddenly, a panicked expression on her face. "Right before we realized that Henry was missing."

"Tamara and Greg," David realized. "We were going to go after them?" The memories were still disjointed, but he couldn't think of any reason they'd have done anything other than chase after the people who'd taken his grandson.

"But something happened…Damn it!" she swore. "Why can't I remember what happened?"

"It has to be the drugs they gave us."

"But those should have worn off by now."

"Not necessarily. The drugs that effect memory can alter it to a point where we might never remember what happened." He looked surprised at his statement. He'd run the pet shelter, but he'd also had the degree to become a vet. Even after several months, he still wasn't used to the medical knowledge of this world kicking in at random times. Even though most of it centered around animals, there was a whole history of medical school rolling around in his head. The simple shepherd in him found the whole thing extremely disconcerting.

Regina looked slightly surprised as well before she moved forward. "I just can't believe I'd let someone capture me like that. Especially after realizing that _they_ had Henry." The disgust in her voice when she mentioned Greg and Tamara was palpable and David couldn't imagine how much she must hate the pair. "And now we're here," she said, all of the anger suddenly disappearing.

David watched as Regina went limp, deflating as what little energy she'd had disappeared.

"I've failed him. Again. We're stuck here and he's in danger." Just like that, she switched again, fear taking over. "What if he's hurt? And what do they want with him? He's just a boy. I should be able to save him – I shouldn't have let myself be captured. What if—"

"Hey," David said gently. He wanted to pull her away from this pit of fear and self-loathing and help calm her down – though, if he was being honest with himself, he was wondering the same things. For both their sakes, he needed to get her off that destructive path and start her thinking about more helpful ones; like how to escape.

"Emma and Snow will find him."

Regina looked up at him. "You don't know that."

"That's true, but you don't know that they won't. I have faith that Henry will be safe as long as they are looking after him. They won't give up until they find him."

"For all we know, they were captured as well. They might be here somewhere in a cell, just as we are."

David shook his head. "You can't think like that. Besides, if they were here, we'd know it, wouldn't we? After all, why would they put _us_ together, and not the others? And we've both left our cells. The rest of the cells are empty. We've seen it for ourselves. Right?"

Slowly, Regina nodded, seeming to finally calm down. "You're right. But why would they only take us?"

"I don't know." He watched as Regina slowly lowered herself to sit next to him on the bed once more. "At least we're not here alone," he told her.

She met his eyes and he was surprised to find that she allowed relief to flood her expression momentarily. After it disappeared, she nodded.

"We'll figure this out."


	7. Chapter 7

Emma trudged through the thick foliage behind Regina and Hook. She scowled as she dodged yet another branch Regina carelessly let go behind her. "Do you mind?" she growled in frustration.

Regina looked over her shoulder, blinking at her with an empty expression before turning back around.

"Right. Stupid question." She looked around at the jungle-like atmosphere, not finding any sort of natural trail or markings of any kind that would lead her to believe Hook knew where he was going. "How well do you know this place again?" she asked with concern.

"Don't worry, love," Hook told her. "It may not look like much, but this is the right path. We can move faster going this way, and cutting through the heart of Neverland will give us more chance to intercept your boy before Pan can get him to Dead Man's Ridge."

A shiver ran down her spine at the way Hook said the name and the fear got the better of her. "Is it really as bad as it Gold made it sound?" she asked hesitantly, not sure that she wanted the answer.

"Rumplestiltskin?" Hook questioned. "Aye, it's worse. The decades I spent here..." he trailed off, an unpleasant expression on his face. "Let's just say that some things cannot be unseen."

Regina sighed. "So dramatic."

"I only speak the truth," Hook defended irritably. "And what would your majesty know about Neverland?" He looked over at her as she continued walking.

"Enough to know I don't want my son spending any more time here alone!" she spat. "The two of you are wasting valuable time and energy talking."

"Shh," Hook said, looking off to the left.

"Oh, that's rich!" Regina snarked.

"No!" Hook whispered harshly. "There's someone else here." He threw his hand out to halt their movement and Regina nearly ran into him, but this time, she remained quiet.

Sure enough, the sound of plants being crushed underfoot was heard, and it gradually grew louder the longer they listened. The three held their breath and Hook motioned for them to hunker down; an attempt to hide them from view of whoever was traveling in their direction.

As it grew louder, it became apparent that there were more than one, and the sounds of an argument traveled across the tops of the ferns.

After another minute, the words and the people speaking them became clear.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, David! I'm just saying that you seem different."

"Well, it's not exactly a vacation, is it? We're all under a lot of stress."

"I know that. I just...we've been through a lot before, and you've never been...I just want to know if there's something else? Is anything wrong?"

"No! And I wish that you'd stop asking me that! I'm fine! Except that you keep bothering me about my behavior!"

Emma stood up from her hiding spot. "Seriously?!"

Gold, Mary Margaret and David all jumped at her sudden appearance.

"We were supposed to split up!" she directed at Gold. "You started off to the right of us! And now here you are, arguing loudly, in the complete opposite direction of where you're supposed to be, and I feel like we're not any closer to finding Henry!"

Regina gave David a scalding look as she rose to her feet along with Hook.

Snow looked appropriately chastised, but Gold was looking at Hook. "I was leading them straight through," he said roughly, lacking the defensive tone Emma had been expecting. She grew even more concerned when Hook looked up toward the direction they'd been traveling and a serious expression replaced the one of pure loathing.

"You know what this means, crocodile?" he asked, and for once, Gold didn't respond to the barb.

"Pan knows we're here."

"And he's up to his old tricks."

"What do you mean, Pan knows?" Emma asked. "How do you know that? And what old tricks?"

"We've been led off course," Gold told her. "And trust me, dearie, that means nothing good for us. From this point on, we're going to have to stick together. Much as I detest the thought," he said sharply, looking back at Hook.

David looked between the two and then over at Regina. "If he knows we're here, doesn't that mean we should think of a different plan? Wouldn't it be more dangerous going to Dead Man's Ridge if they're expecting us?"

"It's still where he'd be taking Henry," Hook told him, sounding irritated. "So if you want to get the lad back, aye. It's forward to Dead Man's Ridge."

"That just sounds more and more appealing every time someone says it," Emma said sarcastically. "Let's get a move on, then. The sun's already starting to set," she pointed out, gesturing at what had already started as a faint light dimming even further through the trees.

"Right you are," Hook agreed, but before he'd started walking again, Gold moved to take the lead.

The pirate growled and moved to confront his old enemy, but a sharp look from Emma had him biting his lip angrily and shaking his head as he followed without a fight. He'd have to wait.

* * *

 

After a rough morning, Regina lay back on the shelf that was her bed and closed her eyes. The guards had come not long after breakfast to drag her away, and she'd been terrified. Dr. Valery hadn't been there, and she was grateful she'd been able to wear her mask once again with the guards, but it seemed it didn't work with David anymore, and so he'd followed them as far as he could before one of the other guards grabbed him firmly.

It had been for a shower and a fresh change of clothes. As much as she despised the one-piece white jumpsuit they'd provided for her, she was relieved to have something clean to wear again. After a few days of being locked up and then tortured, she'd been ready for something fresh to wear and a chance to wash her hair. The woman that had guarded the door during her shower was someone she hadn't seen before. She didn't speak harshly like the others, though she barely spoke at all. She disappeared again, replaced with the rough guards who'd brought her once she'd dressed.

They'd taken David next, and now Regina was left to ponder alone in her cell until he returned. So far, there hadn't been any indication that the people running this prison intended to close the doors between their cells. Even now, Regina's door was open. She thought briefly about trying to escape when they returned, but immediately discarded the idea. There were far too many guards and she had no idea how to get out of the rooms beyond this one. She'd tried to keep track of what she'd seen so far of the prison; making a map of sorts in her head, but it was built like a maze; meant to confuse those contained within.

For now, she was still considering the events of the previous day. Things had started falling into place in her mind and she thought, maybe, just maybe, she might have an idea of what these people were up to. She'd been thinking now about a way to test her theory, and soon, she'd know if she was right. And if she was, then maybe they'd have a way out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is far as I've written, so the next chapter might take a little bit.

Regina sat up quickly at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She waited from her bed as the block in the hallway slid open and David was deposited roughly in his cell. There was a brief moment of panic for her when the doors between them closed tightly and looking across the hall, she saw that David felt it as well. They were each other's only form of human contact outside of the rough guards, and she wasn't at all excited about losing it. Beyond that, it would be harder to carry through with her plan if they separated them again. Although, the separation itself would prove her wrong, so she supposed it would become useless anyway.

She felt herself spiraling down once more into hopelessness at that thought. She'd finally managed to figure something out about this place and have some hope that they'd be able to escape, and it hadn't even lasted twenty four hours. David stood up and moved to stand at the wall again, trying to make eye contact with her as the guards retreated once more, and she let him, using him once more to anchor her in the present, to keep away from the dark thoughts that would keep them from escaping.

The worry had been for nothing. As soon as they were alone again, the halls were blocked off and everything opened so they were free to move between the cells once more. Regina was quick to her feet and David met her halfway. They stopped toe to toe, standing awkwardly in the hallway, having been propelled by a force that neither of them understood. All Regina knew was that she didn't want to be alone again, and if she was in the same space as David, they couldn't put walls between them again.

"We should talk more," Regina finally said to break the uncomfortable silence.

David cleared his throat. "After you."

She turned to move back the way she came, their natural gathering place now being her bed. _How tawdry_ , she thought sardonically. If only Snow were here to appreciate it. She jumped when she felt David's hand on her back, but the contact wasn't unwelcome, and she allowed him to keep the light connection the rest of the way.

"Have you remembered anything else?" he asked hopefully once they were seated.

"No," she told him. "But I thought of a few things that happened before that may be relevant."

He leaned forward in interest.

"I've been going over and over those last few days in Storybrooke in my head," she started, "and I wanted to go over them with you. Retrace our steps and see if it helps us jog our memories at all."

"Sure."

"We can start with the magic beans. You and Snow were growing them, but you were worried someone was going to find out about them so you had me take them and make it appear as if the field had been completely destroyed, along with all of the beans."

David looked up at her with narrowed eyes when he caught the lie. "Regina—"

"Because the last thing those idiots would expect would be for us to be working together," she told him.

He watched her face – unchanging as always – but caught a flicker of something in her eyes. As he watched her, he began to catch on to what she was doing, so he slowly nodded, and making himself look discouraged, he added. "Not that it did us a whole lot of good."

"But it did," she argued. Her brow furrowed as she seemed to be remembering something. "Someone did steal the beans, but I'd figured out who it was," she said slowly. "That's what I was going to tell you after we'd stopped the trigger…before we realized Henry was missing. "I'd discovered where the remaining beans were, we just didn't have time before the trigger would destroy Storybrooke." She sighed. "And as we discussed before, it was for the best that we ended up stopping the trigger the way we did."

He nodded. Regina was brilliant. They'd assumed they were being listened in on, but there was only one way to prove it for sure. They needed to give their captors something to worry about – something they'd want to investigate further. "So you're saying that if we can find a way out of here and back to Storybrooke…" he trailed off.

"I know where the beans are," she finished. "And we can use them to take care of our problems."

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Greg and Tamara were supposed to check in," she whispered harshly. "They're hours late and we have no way of communicating with our world. If this plan doesn't go exactly as it should, we don't have a lot of ways we can alter it."

"Portia, you've got to calm down. The others know something's up, and if you keep freaking out, they're going to know you're not Regina."

"I've spent months studying her. Her mannerisms, her behavior, the way she speaks…you leave being Regina up to me. You should worry more about being David."

"I spent just as long in Storybrooke as you did, remember?"

"Oh, good for you, Ian. I'm sure when you get caught and blow the whole mission, the bosses will feel so much better because you spent so much time in Storybrooke."

"We're not gonna get caught!" he told her a little more loudly, and when she shushed him, he lowered his voice. "We're not gonna get caught. As long as we keep acting the way we're supposed to and we get them up to Dead Man's Ridge, no one's gonna catch on. Mary Margaret's easy to fool. She's so lovesick for David she'll listen to anything I say, and no matter how suspicious she gets, she'd never let herself believe that her precious David was up to something bad. And that imp and the pirate are too busy fighting to realize what's going on."

"It's not them I'm worried about. Emma's no dumb blonde."

"You think she knows?"

"No." Portia shook her head. "I mean…these disguises are fool-proof. That magic idiot really knew what he was doing. The director should have kept him around a little longer in case we needed him in the future. No, Emma's suspicious, but she has no idea we're not Regina and David. We just need to get up there so Pan can do what he needs to in order to get his power back. Once he has it, he'll give us the stone, and we'll be able to close the portals to our world forever. No more magic, no more chaos. Everyone not from there will die and the proper order will be restored – like a reset button."

Ian sighed. "I just hope it doesn't take too much longer. The playoffs are coming up and I swear to god if I miss them—"

"Shh," she said suddenly, freezing.

He looked around before looking back at her. "What?"

She shook her head. "I thought I heard something. Nevermind. It's late – we've been gone awhile. If anyone wakes up, they might notice we're gone. We should get back. Besides, you're supposed to be on guard duty for the next two hours."

"Whatever."

He followed her as they made their way back to where the group had made camp for the night. Neither of them noticed Emma slipping quickly and quietly through the brush ahead of them, mind reeling from what she'd heard, but desperate to reach the camp before they realized she'd ever been awake.


	9. Chapter 9

Time was stretching, but she and David counted the days together, trying to keep track of how long they'd been locked up. Regina had been so sure she'd figured out at least part of the puzzle, and so she'd baited them. Continued to bait them, but she'd started to believe it had all been for nothing. Either no one was listening – something she highly doubted with how vigilant the guards were and how complex the compound was – or she'd been wrong, in which case they really were in a hopeless situation.

She kept quiet, holding onto the small shred of hope that they were biding their time. She'd hoped that they wanted a way to Storybrooke, to figure out how to get there; that magic beans would be enough to draw their interest. It would have confirmed her suspicions that they were keeping her and David together to hear them talk and to coax information out of them without them ever even knowing. She'd also hoped that if she gave them something interesting, they'd keep them alive long enough to figure out a way to escape.

Days were harder now – longer because of the hopelessness that had started to overwhelm her. David tried to keep her distracted and engaged. He'd even come up with a few lies himself to feed the strangers they imagined were listening in – he'd caught on to her plan surprisingly quickly, and at least one of them still had enough hope to keep trying. Silence was all she could manage now.

Seven days. That's what David had told her that morning. It had been seven hellish days since she first mentioned the beans, and she felt further away from escape than ever. Every day was the same. They'd wake from whatever form of sleep they'd managed to fall into, she'd pick at the breakfast she was given, not taking more than a few bites, wondering at how David would manage to eat all of it, and then the guards would drag them off one at a time for a shower and change of clothes. And every day she'd see that same quiet guard – the woman who stood silently, watching her, something like sadness in her eyes in the few brief times they'd met Regina's.

David had told her the day before to eat more so she could keep her strength up. She knew she'd grown thinner in their time here, but she couldn't bring herself to care. If they had no hope of ever getting out, what was the point in prolonging the torture? Still…there was that tiniest pinprick of hope – the one that told her she had to get out; for Henry. And so she ate just enough, kept her mouth shut and stayed close to David. Always an arm's length away until they forced him back to his cell for their daily rituals.

* * *

 

"This is a very interesting setting for a late night chat session," Gold said, watching Emma pace from the log he was sitting on. "I'm not sure why you insisted on such a long walk in the middle of the night. But then, I suppose, there's a reason we're out here when everyone else is asleep and your mother is supposed to be on watch duty? How did you manage to convince her to switch?"

"Not important right now, we don't have a lot of time."

"Oh? Mind enlightening me as to what's going on?"

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed something fishy going on?"

"Oh, so we're speaking of the pirate?"

"Gold, we don't have time for this," Emma said irritably. "This is serious."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said in his playfully mocking way.

"Regina and David. They're not Regina and David."

"And I'm afraid all of that sea travel has gone straight to your head, dearie. They say that it can drive a person mad."

"Stop! Listen. Even you had to notice how weird they were being in between your man fights with Hook. And I caught them earlier tonight, talking. They're using some sort of magic to mask who they really are. Don't you have some way of detecting that or something?"

He stood from his place, observing her, and his posture tensed noticeably, any traces of joking gone.

"What do you mean they're using magic?"

"I mean, I heard them talking. They've been in Storybrooke for awhile, learning, watching David and Regina so they could take their places. I have no idea what happened to the real David and Regina, but they aren't the ones here in Neverland with us. Those people are someone named Portia and Ian and they're a part of the same group that Greg and Tamara are a part of. Whatever is happening here is way bigger than we thought. They were talking about Pan regaining power, sealing the portals between worlds, people dying. Serious stuff Gold."

He began to pace himself. "Are you sure you weren't simply dreaming?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "Yes, because I'd love to drag you out in the forests of Neverland in the middle of the night to play therapy session with you. Shall we talk about my recurring running late dream next? Do you think it might be a subconscious fear that I'm behind on the things I want to do in life?"

"No need to get lippy."

"Really? Because I brought you here to tell you we have a serious problem, and you're asking me if I dreamed it all up. You know what? I'm going back to bed. I'll figure it out myself," she said tightly, beginning to walk away from him.

"Wait," he hissed, grabbing her arm to stop her and swinging her around to face him again. "If this is all true, then their magic is powerful. I wasn't able to detect it."

"Actually, you probably could. You've been distracted by Pirate Wonder. They were actually counting on your rivalry to distract the two of you from anything untoward going on."

Gold looked appropriately chastised for a moment before covering it up again quickly. "I'm assuming then that this trip to Dead Man's Ridge is playing right into Pan's plan to regain power."

"How quickly you catch on," Emma deadpanned.

"And while simply not following them to the top might have been an option, Henry is still there, regardless of what else might be waiting for us up there?"

"That would be my guess, yes. So no abandoning that plan," she said forcefully. "In case you were having any second thoughts."

"Me? Wouldn't dream of it."

"Sure." She huffed out a breath and ran her hands up and down her arms, surprised by the temperature drop despite the tropical climate. "So...new plan?"

"It would appear we certainly need one, yes." At her raised eyebrow and annoyed look, he added. "Patience, dearie. I'll need more information."

"So we should go back to camp, play ignorant for the day and then you'll help me come up with something?"

"I think you mean I'll come up with something that you will then help follow through on."

"Sure, yeah, whatever. Listen, I just want Henry back and to figure out what the hell is happening. We need to stop what they're planning or everyone back in Storybrooke is going to die. Belle included." She hated to play that card, but she knew it was the only way she could guarantee that Gold took the situation seriously.

There was silence for a moment, and then Gold gave Emma a considering look. "Why did you come to me with this information first, anyway? Why not go to dear mummy?"

"Because they wouldn't expect it," she said plainly. "You and I are not exactly friends, and I figured you'd be able to be discreet. You're shifty like that. I'll tell Snow, just not yet. When we have more information. She's going to freak about David missing, and while I want to figure out what happened to him, too, we have to worry about Henry and the rest of Storybrooke first. It won't do us much good if everyone's dead. Us included. I figured I didn't have to mention the part where they kill us?"

"No," he said dryly.

"So…that's it then. 'Night, I guess."

Gold watched her go, narrowing his eyes and looking up the mountain toward Dead Man's Ridge.

If this group thought they could fool Rumplestiltskin and get away with it, they were horribly mistaken.

* * *

 

Regina was exhausted, and near delirious with sleep when the guards came to drag her out of bed. Through a few doorways and down different hallways, and she realized with dread exactly where it was they were taking her.

Valery.

It was what she'd wanted, she supposed, but that didn't settle the feeling of dread coiling within her the closer they came to the room she'd first been questioned in.

Valery watched with his beady eyes as they strapped her back to the chair. She didn't struggle this time, struggling only ensured more pain later on, and she was ready to get this over with.

"We've found out about the beans," Valery said victoriously, though his voice remained at its usual calm volume. "There's no point in pretending any longer."

Regina bit back the smile that threatened to show. It had worked. She'd been so close to giving up hope, but here was the proof she'd needed. She'd set a trap, and Valery had taken the bait.

"It's only a matter of time before we find Storybrooke, and when we do, we'll have everything we need."

The torture this time didn't last quite as long, though there still wasn't a reason behind it other than Valery wanting to watch her in pain. But it was easier this time, as she held onto the idea that these people had no real information, outside of what she and David told them. The people sent to infiltrate Storybrooke had succeeded, yes, but they'd failed to report back, and now the only way back was with Regina and David's help.

* * *

 

When they brought her back to the cell, David was there waiting. She collapsed into his outstretched arms as the guards roughly tossed her in.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling her more tightly against him.

She nodded, hiding her smile in his shoulder. "It worked," she breathed. "He asked about the beans."

David managed to bite back his own smile - barely - and gave her an extra tight squeeze before letting her go. He took her hand to lead her to the bed.

Closing her eyes, she sighed heavily. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted from her after being reassured that their captors had no real knowledge of Storybrooke. Still - she didn't know how much longer she could go on this way, and she was ready for it wall to be over with. They needed to figure out a way out of their prison.

For now, though, she just wanted to rest.

As if reading her thoughts, David was suddenly asking, "What's the first thing you'd eat if you could get out of here right now?"

Her eyes popped open and she turned so she could look up at him curiously.

"What?"

"Food. What's the first thing you'd eat?"

She shook her head a little at the unexpected question, but then settled back against his side, humming in thought. "French fries."

"Really?"

She felt his chuckle and she smiled. "Yes. But not the greasy kind you're probably thinking of. Homemade - thick wedges of potato with lots of seasoning." He hummed his approval before she asked, "What about you? What would you eat?"

"Honestly?" He paused and she wondered what was so difficult about admitting a favorite food before he finally answered, "Your lasagna."

She laughed outright at that. "You can't be serious."

"It's really good," he defended. "I was so angry when the curse broke and I realized I was probably never going to taste it again," he laughed.

"I'm flattered," she told him. "I know how much it takes to tempt the charming prince."

At that, David sighed.

"Regina…about that night—"

"You don't have to worry. I'm not going to tell your precious Snow about what happened," she said, her tone immediately dropping from fun to one of bitterness and anger, and he recognized her mask dropping back into place.

"No, it's not about that," he started, shaking his head. What an odd position to be in. Holding his former enemy against his side and talking about that time she almost kissed him. It was odd how circumstances could change things so drastically. "I just wanted to apologize."

It was her turn to shake her head in confusion, leaning forward slightly so she could look up at him in confusion. "Apologize? Why? What about that night could you possibly have to apologize for? I tricked you into staying, having dinner with me, and then I tried to seduce you even given everything that was going on at the time. I was trying to destroy any chance you had at getting back with Snow. If anything I should be apologizing to you."

"Still. I felt guilty leaving like that. I could tell you were upset, and I almost turned back, but the cursed me was a coward. Afraid of confronting feelings and problems, avoiding any kind of conflict."

"David, I was fine, I—"

"No, I knew I'd upset you," and he hurried on when she opened her mouth to argue with, "Most likely only because I'd foiled your plans to separate Mary Margaret and I, but still. I hated the look on your face and the way I made you feel. So, even though it's months late and you seem to deem it unnecessary, I wanted to tell you I was sorry."

She was speechless at that, unable to process any sort of response, and then she sighed, resting back against him. "Thank you," she finally said. She wasn't accustomed to people considering her feelings, but David had seen a whole new side to her since they'd been imprisoned together, and she'd learned to open up a bit with him.

They were friends now. Neither would say it out loud, but they'd become important to each other and both were glad the other was there.

 


	10. Chapter 10

Abby sat in the warm room with Reid once again, watching their prisoners sit together in Regina's cell. It was routine now, and the only time they were ever apart was when they were forced to be.

"She can't stay here," Abby muttered, glancing over at Reid. "She won't survive. She's already lost so much weight since they've been here. And Valery's been getting restless. He's had her brought to him three times this week. It's not right, none of this is right. We have to do something."

He nodded, but looked disgruntled. "I don't see what we could do. It would be difficult enough to get them out of the facility."

"But there has to be something!" She put her head in her hands, pushing her hair back as she sighed. "If we can just get them out of here, we can give them a chance. They're never going to be able to get out of here on their own, and they won't survive if they stay here. Even if she lives through the torture and lack of proper nutrition, I don't think Valery's planning on keeping them alive for much longer. In his eyes, they've proved their usefulness."

Reid nodded, and then a look came over his face. "Give me two days. I think I can come up with something. I have a few ideas, but it will take a little arranging, and it's definitely going to take a little time."

Abby nodded slowly, her eyes drawn back to the screen. "You should start right now, then. I'll be ready whenever you are."

She was glad of all the people they'd placed her with, they'd placed her with Reid. This organization hadn't turned out at all the way she'd thought, and she was angry for allowing herself to be duped. But she was going to try to make it right. She wasn't sure what would happen to the two of them - it was inevitable that they'd be found out when all of this was over, but if she lived, she might be able to sleep at night again.

* * *

 

Emma was having a hard time keeping the secret from Snow. Not because she wanted to tell her, but because as the days went along, she became more and more suspicious of David's behavior. She was realizing that something was wrong, and if the looks she'd started to give Emma were anything to go by, she also suspected Emma knew why.

Rumple had been spending a lot of his time on his own - most likely working on devising a plan of some sort - but because of his general attitude, no one suspected it was anything other than his lack of patience in everyone else's presence.

They were growing close to the top, and Emma could feel the nerves jumbling inside her. She knew it would be dangerous, and she was anxious to see Henry again. She could only hope that Pan's intentions actually included keeping him alive and well. The more she heard about Pan from Hook, the more anxious she became about getting Henry away from him as soon as possible.

The foliage growth had become much thinner as they grew closer, what had been rugged ground giving way to jagged rocks and slippery paths. It seemed Dead Man's Ridge was promising to live up to it's name. Where there were gaps in the trees, she could look back to see the ocean, and despite the amount of walking and climbing they'd been doing, she was still surprised by how much height they'd gained. Hook's ship was barely visible from this point.

Good campsites had become harder to find, but it wouldn't matter soon. By Hook's memory, it sounded like they only had about a day left in front of them. Emma wanted to push forward, but finally agreed that it was best they save their energy and rest. She supposed it would give her the chance to talk to Gold anyway. He hadn't sought her out since their conversation that night in the forest, and this might be their last chance before they came across whatever might be waiting for them.

* * *

 

It was the middle of the night as far as David could tell, but he hadn't been able to sleep. There were too many things to think about, and he rolled over to watch Regina. Though she'd been feeling more optimistic about their situation, David knew he had to get her out. Regina had been clever in discovering Valery's method of gathering information, but since she'd refused to give up anything of real value, the man had become obsessed with torturing her and David didn't know how much longer her body could take it.

He brushed a soothing circle on the back of her hand with his thumb, trying to think of a way he could do it. There were so many barriers, locked doors and guards, it seemed impossible. He rolled back over to stare at the ceiling. Of all the situations he'd been in, this one was taking the top spot for worst. He felt truly powerless.

He heard the door of their cell open, but it took him a moment to register, and when he sat up, he was confused to see the barriers blocking them from the rest of the hallway were sliding away as well, but with no guards in sight.

He stood quickly, hurrying into the hallway to look both ways, confirming that there wasn't a soul in sight. "Regina," he whispered loudly, returning to her side. "Regina, wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, immediately alert.

"Look!" She followed where he was pointing to see the open hall.

The lights shut off a second later, and it was the first time since their arrival that they'd been shrouded in complete darkness.

"Let's go!" he urged, helping pull her to her feet.

"It could be a trap," she warned, but followed the sound of his footsteps as he made his way to the door.

"It could."

They both knew that the likelihood of some sort of power surge magically releasing them from their prison was highly unlikely, but they also knew that there wasn't much to lose.

David felt Regina's hand find his arm, linking them together in the darkness as they made their way further than they ever had without a guard escort. It didn't matter that they couldn't see. They'd been locked up long enough without anything to do other than memorize the compound they were held in.

They finally reached the door at the end of the hall, and David took a deep breath before pulling on the handle. To his great relief, it swung open easily, and they continued into the outer rooms of the complex. Faint red lights glowed outside of the prison block, illuminating their outlines, but not much else, and they both felt a shiver go through them at the eerie atmosphere it created.

"We don't know where we're going," Regina pointed out, and David could hear the desperation in her voice. It was true. While they'd been taken to different areas of the complex, they had no context for where they were located inside it, and no idea which way led to escape.

"So we just keep going until we find our way out," David said determinedly, picking up the pace.

They'd only made it down a few passages before there was the sound of running footsteps approaching. Torn between running and fighting, David decided that their best bet was to keep moving forward. It sounded as if there was only one person approaching – he could handle a single guard. Regina tensed as he took a defensive posture, but she seemed to agree with his decision as she stood quietly by.

Seconds later, the source of the footsteps rounded the corner and skid to a halt in front of them.

Regina recognized her immediately as the female guard who often accompanied her to her showers. The quiet, sad looking one, and for a moment, she felt regret that it was this guard that they'd need to harm in order to pass.

They were shocked, however, when instead of fighting, the guard breathlessly hissed, "Follow me, we don't have much time."

The pair immediately took off after her, jogging down hallways, making sharp turns and stepping through doorways that had been left open and unlocked.

"What is going on?" Regina asked as they ran.

"Reid managed to shut off the power grid. We only have a few minutes before emergency generators bring everything back online. We have to get you out before then."

"You're helping us escape?" David asked incredulously, still unable to believe it, even as he followed her through another doorway.

"I used to think the people in this organization were right, but they're not, and neither is what they're doing here; to you. I had to get you out before he killed you."

"Valery?"

"He was growing impatient at the rate he was receiving information. It wouldn't have been much longer. Here." She came to an abrupt halt in the next room, opening a few lockers and pulling out their contents. "Put these on."

David picked up what he recognized to be white snow pants and jackets. "Why do we need these?"

"Trust me, you won't last long out there without them. Hurry! We don't have very much time."

David put them on over his prisoner uniform and helped Regina with her jacket. "Why are risking your life to help us?"

"I told you, this isn't right. And you have to warn your people. This organization is ruthless. They won't stop, especially if you escape. They will eventually find a way back in. Your people should be prepared to defend themselves."

"Who are these people?" Regina asked.

"There isn't time to explain. You have to go now. Through that door, take the first right. The door there will have an electronic panel. It can't be opened without power, but once the power is back on, you'll only have seconds to open it before emergency procedures are enacted and the whole facility goes into lockdown. The code today is 732281."

"What about you?" David asked in concern.

"I have to get back to my post. Reid and I will try to give you a head start."

"But they'll kill you!"

"Not if they don't know it was us," she told him, then with more urgency, "Repeat back the code."

"732281."

She gave a sharp nod. "Good luck." And then she was sprinting away from them, leaving them to finish pulling on their snow suits as they tried to shake themselves out of the state of shock.

There was a way out.

When they were both fully zipped in, David moved to the panel, his hand hovering over the buttons.

Neither of them said anything, waiting in silence for the power to come back on and listening for the sound of anyone approaching.

David sucked in a breath when the lights came back on and held his breath as he quickly typed in the code. A light flashed green and the lock clicked and he opened the door, looking back to make sure Regina was right behind him.

The world went white.

David paused for a brief second in shock, a mumbled, "What the…" escaping before managing to break himself out of it and help Regina out into the world of snow. Nothing but snow as far as the eye could see in any direction. The only thing breaking it up was the partially underground, very cleverly concealed facility they'd just escaped from. It was obviously a secret facility and David was grateful the need to remain hidden extended to the pure white snow suits they were currently wearing. It would make it easier for them to escape anyone who might come after them. Though he now worried where they would be able to find escape and how.

A second later, they heard an alarm sound - faint through the closed door behind them, but still audible - and David reached an arm out to Regina.

"Let's get out of here."

 


End file.
